Super Girls!

As requested, our girls are now the proud owners of personalized 'Super Girl' capes. For a week or so now the girls have been holding Little Sister's blankies around their necks while they ran around the house screaming, "Super Girls! Run for your life!" I nonchalantly asked Big Sister if she'd prefer to use a real Super Girl cape for this favorite pastime, to which she replied, "YES!" So we were off to the fabric store faster than a speeding bullet!!

Big Sister requested that her cape be pink and purple, and feature Angelina Ballerina on it. Once Little Sister saw the Angelina fabric, she wanted some as well. Therefore, I had the girls use different solid colors for their reversible side.

Big Sis requested that I make her cape first. First borns... sheesh...
She just has "H" on one side, because her cape was a bit of a rough draft for me. I didn't have the confidence to try two appliques by that time! And she didn't want "H" on both sides, but couldn't tell me what else she did want... so...

I found a tutorial online here, read through it twice on the computer, and then went downstairs to 'wing' it. I modified it and made Big Sister's a few inches bigger all around, since our lady is so tall. I also did the straps differently than the tutorial suggested, and I think I prefer my way, though I accidentally made Big Sis' too long. Nothing an extra velcro patch won't cure.

The sisters wearing their new capes first thing this morning! (Which explains the bed head and jammies in all the pictures). And promptly after breakfast, the girls ran out to the back yard to run around with Walter. Wearing their capes, of course.
Sure does make a Mommy feel good.

Action shot!

We've Been Busy

We have been up to a lot this last week. Oh my, yes. It has really helped the time fly. All of a sudden, Hubby will be home with us again in just 8 days! I can hardly believe the 6 weeks is almost up. We are so thankful!

What have we been up to, you ask? Let's list the good stuff, shall we...


Big Sister learned how to take a picture of herself with the pocket digital. And, as you can probably tell, we've been spending time at the water park on post. The water park is awesome. It has two large water slides, a 'fun zone' with rope ladders and 'logs' to walk across, fountains in the pool area, etc. The pool itself is inclined, with a maximum water height of 4 feet; this is fabulous for young children. Both Big and Little Sister can splash together with me supervising closely, or we can hold hands, etc., and swim around deeper areas. Pool rules require a ten minute break every 60 minutes, enforced by lifeguards with whistles. While this sounds annoying at first, it's the perfect opportunity to catch some shade, have a snack, reapply sunscreen, or use the restroom. Or all of the above. We all have a lot of fun there, and we can't wait to bring Daddy with us!!

'
Mommy finally finished painting and decoupaging fun scrapbook paper onto our little ol' IKEA table. It gave it a lovely and girly face-lift. We girls like the pink and purple table very much.


The 3 kiddos utilizing furniture the way God intended. Much to Mommy's dismay. *Sigh*


The 3 kiddos playing sweet and precious for Mommy and the camera.
Did you notice what's in Little Sister's hand??


We finished Hannah's swim lessons. She did fantastic! She really made a lot of progress in the water, but best of all, her confidence level with 'new big-girl tasks' has visibly soared. Like... wanting to pour her own glasses of milk... or buckling her own seat belt... etc. It's hard to pinpoint, but she just has more confidence in herself and her abilities.


Exiting the pool using proper exiting techniques on the ladder, as taught and approved by the Red Cross Life Guards of America. Or... something...


With swimming specifically, she now walks away from the wall, and around the pool, all by herself! And at the water park she's been putting her entire face into the water while blowing bubbles, has attempted floating on her back, and has 'swimmed' (mostly me shoving her forward) a 18in. distance between my arms and the side of the pool, and back again to me. Much more confidence in the water! What a darling, happy lady!!


Little Sister at the Army Band's family night. There were snacks, a bounce house, music and dancing, and a magician! Big Sister and a friend rocked the bounce house almost the entire time. Little Sister stuck by me, and we chatted and helped sell snacks at our FRG table. Here she is with some of the goods all over her face. Too precious!


Little Sister required some more toddler-friendly toothpaste on our last visit to the super market. (Toothpaste is toddler-friendly when it's free of fluoride, and thus safer to swallow for little ones still learning to spit). She picked out Thomas the Train. This girl has never before cared who Thomas the Train is. But she is now obsessed with Thomas, and therefore, obsessed with her toothpaste. As is evident by the fact that she took both toothpaste and box to sleep with her. For the fourth consecutive night.

That's the good stuff, isn't it?!

I have an idea!

But I need some help with it.... This is our laundry sorter. Isn't it bangin?! We got it on sale from Costco a couple years back. Aaaahhh, I heart Costco. *Sigh*
Anyway. I suddenly got inspired to use stencils and paint some words down the bags, to make them cuter and more presentable for the laundry area. Since it's IN THE KITCHEN/ENTRY WAY OF OUR DINKY BASE HOUSING APARTMENT THAT I'M TIRED OF--1300 SQ. FEET MY BACKSIDE. Ahem. But, there are a couple dilemmas I face.
One) Does the bar in the middle prevent the words from looking cute if it obstructs some of the view? Hmm... possiblity. Could they just be painted on the top half and still look cute? Or would just the bottom half look better?
Two) What words would I paint down the side? Obviously, they would be laundry related and in a set of three. Like... "colors, whites.... ??" or "cold, warm, hot..." or "01, 02, 03" painted just on bottom of each bag....
(Right now our laundry is sorted into whites, colors and Eric's uniforms. "Eric's uniforms" takes up too much room to paint).
Or I could scratch all that and go totally kitchey, and paint "Loads, of, fun" down them.
Three) What color? Black, cuz I heart flat black? Or silver, to match the 'chrome' cart?
Okay. Someone decide for me!!

Happenings

Let's begin this blog by me stating that I do, in fact, brush her hair. Girl Scouts honor! But my girls like to do crafts first thing after breakfast, pre-clothing and hair brushing. And I consent because if they accidentally get paint on their 'jammas' versus their clothes, well... who cares?We had a few rainy days keep us inside lately, so we tried some new crafts. Here is Hannah painting a peg doll! Which we will later construct into a necklace, once we get more hook things at the craft store. We, mostly me, are excited about the endless possibilities found in the unfinished wood aisle in Michael's in conjunction with the weekly 40% off coupon which allows me one new craft per week at a bargain! Yes!!
This week's craft bargain (Yes!!): Peg doll necklaces for the girls. Came across this terrific idea here. The girls named them Hannah and Blue. Can you guess which is which?
Here is an adorable photo of Hannah from last week, a couple days before a tornado almost got us!! Yeah, did I mention the tornado? We were seriously, incredibly fortunate it dissipated 3-4 minutes prior to reaching Fort Knox. Thank God Eric is such a weather fiend, and once he heard the sirens he turned on the news, firmly stated we were getting the girls out of bed and bringing them downstairs in case we needed to crowd into our little windowless half-bath (it's actually more like a glorified shoe box with a toilet--but whatever).... and then right before it was time to grab a blanket and crowd in there, it was gone. Crazy.
At last week's story time there was a guest speaker from the Humane Society of Nelson County. The woman brought her 11 yr. old cocker spaniel, Tater Tot, in to meet the children and teach them about dog safety. We learned to only approach dogs on leashes, and only pet them if you receive permission from their owner. And if you see a dog approaching you in an aggressive manner you:
get down and pretend to be a rock! Amelia had fun copying the big kids.
There's Hannah approaching Tater. What a sweet dog!! She likes apples, so her owner brought a baggie full of apple pieces for the kids to feed her.
Hannah pretending to 'be a mountain' while you wait for the dog to sniff you prior to petting them. Sweet girl! What an animal lover she is. She says that when we get a house of our own she wants another dog named Daisy, and also two cats named Brown and Brownie. I see a compromise in there somewhere... and a lot of lint rollers...

Scar(f)

Evil-Knievel here tried jumping off Big Sis' twin bed. That didn't work out so well, as you can see. I anticipated the bruise on her forehead being really bad, so we tried immediately swabbing the bump with a cotton ball soaked in vinegar. You can barely see it now, less than 24 hrs. later.
Old wives tale? Perhaps not.

Hannah's scarf is complete! It's fine merino wool, and of course, pink and purple. She seemed quite pleased that she was finally able to wear it, and would hardly sit still long enough for me to take a picture.

Projects

Another project I just finished last night:

Fabric tags for the living room toy baskets. This idea just came to me in my restless sleep the other night. Not like it's totally original or anything. I'm sure I've encountered this somewhere, just kinda made-up this version. Who says insomnia doesn't have it's good points?

Mommy has been working with fabric lately, and lovin' every minute of it! A few projects I finished up in the last two weeks include:

Another rooster for the kitchen. We needed another rooster, right? Just two, though. I swear. I was eager to try painting silhouettes onto fabric (wrapped around a 10" squared canvas), because I'd like to do something like this for art in the girls' room one day... soon... just using their silhouettes, of course. I was also eager because this project required a staple gun, and I really, really wanted a staple gun.
Hmm... maybe we're needing a sheep in the kitchen, though...

A surprise awaits for when Eric returns home this week: new curtains for the living room! Sort of. These are all actually flat bed sheets that I've flipped the top seam over and sewn to fit our curtain rod. The brown ones were moved from our bedroom (where I already was using them as curtains), and I found the white one in our bathroom cabinet. Our spare set just happened to have two flat sheets for one fitted... Strange... We get lots of natural light shining through these sheerish curtains, but with privacy. And they hide the ugly blinds. And it was technically free.

Coasters! Easy-peasy pattern. Peezy? Peazy? I didn't use the interfacing web stuff, though, just some felt squares left over from puppets and other crafts we've done with the girls. I like that you flip it right side out from the crossover in the center, which hides the fact that I can only sew in straightish lines.

A cloth case for my little digital camera. I already happened to have some quarters of fun fabric and quilted bunting stuff, plus elastic and a button... It's so nice to have a 'stash.' Now if only that 'stash' weren't all in one plastic bin, tangled with thread, bobbins, etc...
Hannah helped me make this in less than 1 1/2. We put Amelia down for nap, and just us big girls stayed up to measure, cut, sew, and enjoy some special chocolate chip cookies and milk for snack after. I really enjoyed having her sit on my lap and helping me sew, and hopefully she did, too.

When You Give a Mouse a Cookie...

Or rather, when you give a Mommy an hour to clean the kitchen sink... she'll probably "shine the sink" instead. And while she's shining her sink, she will realize that her kitchen counters are not being utilized to their full spacial potential. So Mommy, who is lately way too inspired by Nesting Place, will begin moving the cutting board, knives and spices to the completely underutilized opposite counter that simply held plants and the occasional stack of laundry. (Laundry stacks are now doomed to be put away immediately! Oh, drat!) Once she's done de-cluttering the counter space, Mommy will look up and see that the fridge is feeling too cluttered, too, and immediately being taking down pictures and tossing old, grungy magnets into the Goodwill stack. Chances are, once Mommy sees how clean the outside of the fridge looks, she'll want to clean the inside, too. So she'll get out her Simple Green and get to work. With the fridge being clean inside and out, Mommy will want to rehang the crooked cabinet door above the fridge, so she'll set off to find a screw driver. Might as well grab the hammer and nails, too, to rehang a few small pictures in different places 'round the kitchen... Once Mommy is done with those tasks, she'll look around and realize that she now has at least five more square feet of counter space, plus some pictures she'd like to display, and she'll want to head to Goodwill and Hancock Fabrics in hopes of completing two small crafts to utilize all her new shiny space....

PB inspired linen photo board...

Cute junk holder I painted up so purdy last night!

The counter space that was formerly littered with junk, spice rack, knives, cutting board. Now I have an actual space of counter, and our junk looks so cute in the wood box! With just $7.80 in fabric, batting, elastic and the wood container (total score from Goodwill!!) and an unused espresso wood frame from the office floor, I now have a more spacious, user friendly and stylish kitchen! Er... we now have....

Our Valentine's Day breakfast

Hannah...

our mailboxes full of goodies, heart pancakes on our silver 'tea party' tray, pink cups for milk/juice, tea cups for coffee, and our vinyl (washable) craft table cloth that happens to be covered in hearts....

Amelia....

And Valentines for our sweethearts!

Pictures

A few random, recent pictures of our family posted for your viewing pleasure.

Mommy caught the girls jumping on the couch.  Again.  For the eighty-thousandth time this week.  It's like Charlie Brown.  I say, "No jumping on the couch, girls," and all they hear is "wa-wa-wa-waaaaa."

I took an old work polo of Eric's, and sort-of did it wrong, but successfully made Amelia these!*

Hannah working on her beading.  She got a bead kit for her birthday and adores it.  Every waking minute was spent making necklaces for the first three days after.  Thank you very much, Uncle Mike and Aunt Angie!!  

Walter looking oh-so-cute while sitting in his favorite spot staring out the window.  

*These pants!  They are a little long, but give her room to grow.  She needed another pair of play pants, and I was itching to try this idea from Soule Mama.  I'm eye balling Eric's tee shirt drawer now for another...

P.S.  Don't you just love that toothy, cheesy grin of hers?!?!  And her baby-mullet is getting longer!

Hannah 'heart attacking' our windows.  We took the idea from my Martha Stewart Living February issue (golly, that sounds domestic) and used the remaining pink paper napkins from her birthday to make round heart doilies.  Hannah's taping up the ones that didn't turn out like a doilie because we cut it in the wrong place.  But quite a few did, and are taped up on the windows I didn't take a picture of.  :)  Like that?  The napkin, once folded over twice to make the doilie, was a little too thick for her to cute through.  I did that by myself with my heavy duty kitchen shears.   So the kids' craft turned into something crafty for Mommy.  But Hannah always enjoys playing with scissors and tape, no matter what the finished product looks like.

Ok, bye.